We sometimes get asked at Co- questions like:

• How much should we charge?

• Do you think we should add x, y or z product or service to our range?

• Should we deliver an online service?

In our opinion these kind of questions often arise when a piece of strategic thinking is missing from a business.

The planning that is missing is identifying a target market and building the price, product range, presentation and service around that target market.

The danger is that without this foundation piece of work, the business can deliver mixed messages to customers and subconsciously put them off.

For example, you run a garage. You deliver a first class product in terms of the quality of the work, and charge a top price for the job, but the service is poor and the workshop is a mess. Clients who are prepared to pay a top price for top quality work will be put off and clients who don't mind about the mess won't pay the price.

Or to flip the equation around, let us say you sell cheap product at a low price, from a shop that looks like it is a high class boutique - the people who would buy your product won't step through the door and the ones who step through the door aren't in the market to buy cheap tat.

Ok, so these are extreme examples, but is how consistent is our service, product, price, branding and delivery to our clients?

The point is that the mixed messages confuse people and stop them from buying. The answer in our opinion is getting everything pointing in the same direction, all of a piece so that your target market understand that your product or service is aimed at them. It puts them at ease and gives them the confidence to make a purchase.

Price is an important part of the equation and it is often misunderstood that price should be based on cost or a market price. In fact our recommendation is to make your price 'of a piece' with product, presentation and service.